750 Kuwaitis will be brought home from Iran as coronavirus leads to multiple deaths

The move came as Iranian authorities reported eight have died and 43 are infected

Wahida Ghalayini, head of the nursing department, speaks to journalists at the quarantine department at Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon. Lebanese Health Minister Hamad Hassan said all people traveling from Iran to Lebanon will be tested for the new virus that started in China before boarding flights to the Arab country after a woman tested positive earlier this week upon her return from Iran. AP

Kuwaitis coming back from Iran leave the air plane at Sheikh Saad Airport in Kuwait City before being taken to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus. AFP

Kuwaitis coming back from Iran wait at Sheikh Saad Airport in Kuwait City before being taken to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus. AFP

Kuwaiti policemen wearing protective masks wait at Sheikh Saad Airport in Kuwait City, before transferring Kuwaitis arriving from Iran to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus. AFP

Kuwaitis coming back from Iran wait at Sheikh Saad Airport in Kuwait City, before being taken to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus. AFP

Kuwaiti health minister Sheikh Basel al-Sabah (R) speaks to the press at Sheikh Saad Airport in Kuwait City, as Kuwaitis returning from Iran wait before being taken to a hospital to be tested for coronavirus. AFP

Lebanese nurses wearing protective masks work at a ward where the first case of coronavirus in the country is being treated, at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in the southern outskirts of the capital Beirut. AFP

Medical staff check passengers arriving from Iran in the airport in Najaf, Iraq. AP

Medical workers in protective suits at a coronavirus detection lab in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. AP

Nurses work at an ICU ward specialised for patients infected by coronavirus in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. AP

Market workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant at a market in the southeastern city of Daegu as a preventive measure after the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. AFP

A woman is taken into an ambulance amid a coronavirus outbreak in northern Italy, in Casalpusterlengo. REUTERS

British Diamond Princess evacuees arrive in coaches to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, United Kingdom. Getty Images

British Diamond Princess evacuees arrive at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, United Kingdom. Getty Images

Passengers of an aircraft are being taken to Arrowe Park Hospital, where passengers that have been repatriated to the UK from a cruise ship hit by the COVID-19 coronavirus in Yokohama, Japan, will be quarantined for 14 days to protect against the spread of the illness should any of them be infected, in Upton, England. AP

Iran's health ministry has announced that eight people have died and 43 have been infected from the Wuhan Coronavirus.

The statement comes after Kuwait announced it will be bringing back 750 citizens from Iran after the first coronavirus-related deaths were declared last week in the country.

The first flight landed in Kuwait on Saturday morning carrying 130 people. Minister of Health Dr Basel Al Sabah said all passengers were free of the virus and "in good health and high spirits".

In Lebanon, there has been a public outcry over the failure to halt flights from Iran after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in a Lebanese woman, 45, who travelled from the Iranian city of Qom.

“We have made contact with Iranian authorities who assured us that all necessary measures will be taken before a new flight arrives from Iran on Monday. The same measures will be taken for all flights arriving from coronavirus-infected countries,” Lebanon's health minister Hassan Hamad said, according to local news outlet Naharnet.

On Saturday, he said 11 people who returned from Iran and were suspected of carrying the virus tested negative, including two who arrived on the flight from Qom.

Lebanese citizens have used social media to express their outrage after Mr Hamad said the next flight from Iran would be allowed to land.

Asked on Friday whether the outbreak is at a “tipping point” after the new cases in Iran and Lebanon, the director general of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he still believed the virus could be contained, but added that "the window of opportunity is narrowing, so we need to act quickly before it closes completely.

“This outbreak could go in any direction,” Tedros said. “If we do well, we can avert any serious crisis, but if we squander the opportunity then we will have a serious problem on our hands.”

The governor of Markazi province in Iran

Aghazadeh, told the official IRNA news agency that tests conducted on a patient who recently died in the central city of Arak were positive for the virus.

Mr Aghazadeh said the person also suffered from a heart problem.
Earlier on Saturday, health authorities reported a fifth death from coronavirus and said the patient was one of 10 new confirmed cases in Iran.

Since it emerged in December, the coronavirus has killed 2,345 people in China, the centre of the epidemic, and 17 elsewhere in the world.

The outbreak in Iran first surfaced on Wednesday, when authorities said Covid-19, another name of the virus, claimed the lives of two elderly people in Qom, a Shiite holy city south of Tehran.

They were the first confirmed deaths from the virus in the Middle East. Iran reported two more deaths on Friday.

Based on official figures, about 18 per cent of those infected with the coronavirus in Iran have died, compared with little more than 3 per cent in China.

A South Korean woman, left, wearing a mask exits a store in central Seoul. EPA

A football fan walks past a thermal camera used to detect signs of the corona virus ahead of the AFC Champions League Group E match between FC Seoul and Melbourne Victory. Getty Images

A medical worker producing traditional Chinese medicine electuary at a hospital in Shenyang in China's northeastern Liaoning province. AFP

Dutch passengers from the Westerdam cruise ship arrive at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. EPA

Dutch passengers from the Westerdam cruise ship arrive home. EPA

Workers wearing face masks sort and package eggs at a factory, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Rongcheng, Shandong province, China. Reuters

A health worker sprays disinfectant outside a bus to protect from the recent coronavirus outbreak, at Noi Bai airport in Hanoi, Vietnam. Reuters

A worker in protective gear checks a passenger after she disembarked the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, 21 February 2020. Passengers have been disembarking since 19 February following a two-week-long quarantine period after around 600 passengers and crew were infected with the novel coronavirus. The SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far killed more than 2,000 people with over 76,000 infected worldwide, mostly in China. EPA

Shanghai Ballet dancers wearing masks practise in a dance studio in Shanghai. Reuters

A worker wearing protective gear sprays disinfectant against the coronavirus in front of the Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, South Korea. Lim Hwa-young/Yonhap via AP

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk past a mural featuring fruits in Hong Kong, China. Bloomberg

This photo taken on February 20, 2020 shows doctors looking at a lung CT image at a hospital in Yunmeng county, Xiaogan city. AFP

A worker wearing protective gears disinfect chairs as a precaution against the coronavirus at a subway station in Seoul. AP Photo

A patient suspected of carrying the new coronavirus, named COVID-19, arrives at Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu, South Korea. EPA

As a "preventive measure", Iranian authorities ordered the closure of schools, universities and other educational centres in 14 provinces across the country from Sunday, state TV reported.

They provinces are Qom, Markazi, Gilan, Ardabil, Kermanshah, Qazvin, Zanjan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Hamedan, Alborz, Semnan, Kurdistan and Tehran.

Iran also announced "all art and cinema events in halls across the country have been cancelled until the end of the week" to stop the spread of infections.

"We are on the front lines, we need help," Mohammadreza Ghadir, the head of Qom's medical sciences university, said on state TV.

"If I can say one thing, it is help Qom."

The Iranian outbreak began in the lead-up to a parliamentary election on Friday.

State media said the deadly virus failed to dampen "the revolutionary zeal of Qom's people" to turn out to vote.

Iranians have been snapping up surgical face masks in a bid to avoid catching the virus.

Online retailer Digikala, Iran's equivalent of Amazon, said on Friday it had sold 75,000 masks within 36 hours.

It said it was not claiming a commission on its mask sales, amid concerns that demand was causing prices to skyrocket on the black market.

"We stand against the unusual price increase," Digikala tweeted.

"We stand alongside our dear suppliers and by providing fresh supplies, we hope we can meet a part of the country's demand."

The Iranian health ministry said tests were carried out on 785 suspected coronavirus cases since the outbreak began.

"Most of the cases are either Qom residents or have a history of coming and going from Qom to other cities," a ministry spokesman said.

Iran has yet to confirm the origin of the outbreak, but one official speculated it was brought in by Chinese workers.

"The coronavirus epidemic has started in the country," IRNA quoted health ministry official Minoo Mohraz as saying.

"Since those infected in Qom had no contact with the Chinese … the source is probably Chinese workers who work in Qom and have travelled to China."

But she did not provide any evidence to support her claim and it has not been reported elsewhere in Iranian media.

All of those who died are believed to be Iranian citizens.

Qom is a centre for Islamic studies and pilgrims, attracting scholars from across Iran and beyond.

After the announcement of the first two deaths in Iran, Iraq barred travel to and from its neighbour.

The Iraqi health ministry announced that people in Iran would not be allowed to enter the country "until further notice".

Meanwhile, South Korea’s president has put his nation on its highest alert for infectious diseases, saying Sunday that officials should take “unprecedented, powerful” steps to fight the outbreak of the new virus in the country.

President Moon Jae-in made the comments as authorities reported 123 more cases, raising the country’s total to 556, with five deaths.

A third passenger from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan has died as result of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

A diplomatic row erupted after Israel turned back a South Korean airliner, underscoring fear and tensions over the fast-spreading outbreak.

In Italy, the number of cases the Lombardy region has risen to 89, bringing the country's total to more than 100.